Ayub 9:3

9:3 If someone wishes ¹  to contend ²  with him,

he cannot answer ³  him one time in a thousand.

Ayub 19:29

19:29 Fear the sword yourselves,

for wrath ⁴  brings the punishment ⁵  by the sword,

so that you may know

that there is judgment.” ⁶ 

Mazmur 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ⁷  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ⁸ 

Yesaya 3:14

3:14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment

on the leaders of his people and their officials.

He says, ⁹  “It is you ¹⁰  who have ruined ¹¹  the vineyard! ¹² 

You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ¹³ 

[9:3]  ¹ tn Some commentators take God to be the subject of this verb, but it is more likely that it refers to the mortal who tries to challenge God in a controversy. The verb is used of Job in 13:3.

[9:3]  ² tn The verb רִיב (riv) is a common one; it has the idea of “contention; dispute; legal dispute or controversy; go to law.” With the preposition אִם (’im) the idea must be “to contend with” or “to dispute with.” The preposition reflects the prepositional phrase “with God” in v. 2, supporting the view that man is the subject.

[9:3]  ³ tn This use of the imperfect as potential imperfect assumes that the human is the subject, that in a dispute with God he could not answer one of God’s questions (for which see the conclusion of the book when God questions Job). On the other hand, if the interpretation were that God does not answer the demands of mortals, then a simple progressive imperfect would be required. In support of this is the frustration of Job that God does not answer him.

[19:29]  ⁴ tn The word “wrath” probably refers to divine wrath for the wicked. Many commentators change this word to read “they,” or more precisely, “these things.”

[19:29]  ⁵ tn The word is “iniquities”; but here as elsewhere it should receive the classification of the punishment for iniquity (a category of meaning that developed from a metonymy of effect).

[19:29]  ⁶ tc The last word is problematic because of the textual variants in the Hebrew. In place of שַׁדִּין (shaddin, “judgment”) some have proposed שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) and read it “that you may know the Almighty” (Ewald, Wright). Some have read it יֵשׁ דַּיָּן (yesh dayyan, “there is a judge,” Gray, Fohrer). Others defend the traditional view, arguing that the שׁ (shin) is the abbreviated relative particle on the word דִּין (din, “judgment”).

[143:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

[3:14]  ⁹ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn The pronominal element is masculine plural; the leaders are addressed.

[3:14]  ¹¹ tn The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze, ruin”; HALOT 146 s.v. II בער) is a homonym of the more common בָּעַר (ba’ar, “burn”; see HALOT 145 s.v. I בער).

[3:14]  ¹² sn The vineyard is a metaphor for the nation here. See 5:1-7.

[3:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “the plunder of the poor [is] in your houses” (so NASB).